Sermon Tone Analysis
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John 1:19-34
Hook - Think of your favorite concert.
The big headlining band you went to see and how great it was.
There was a band who opened for the headliner.
The smaller band was not as well known.
Maybe rising talent.
One of their purposes was to get you ready to for the headliner.
They were to hype the crowd.
Prepare them.
There are many ways that we prepare.
-Engagement is one step in preparing you to make that marriage commitment.
-Taking birthing classes helps prepare you for the the big day.
-Reading an advent devotional helps prepare our heart for Christmas.
God prepared His people for the formal ministry of Jesus.
How did God prepare His people by sending a man we know as John the Baptist.
At the beginning of the Gospels we are in a time when the Jewish people felt very stuck.
Their nation needed help.
2 very large things were going on.
A) They were occupied and ruled by Roman Government.
B) God had not spoken to them through a prophet for 400 Years.
The people were oppressed and it didn’t appear that God was going to do anything about it.
Some may have wondered if God even cared.
-Some Jews looked for the Messiah to come and fix their problem with Rome.
Then, something very odd, but special began to happen.
-John the Baptist arrives - out of not where.
Not expected.
To these generations who had never seen a prophet John was strange.
This man was dressed like an Old Testament Prophet.
Camel hair for a clothing
He would be about 30 and due to being a Nazarite would have never cut his hair - even as a child.
And never cut his beard.
-Round bushy wild beard
-uneven hair down past the back of his knees.
-Very rough clothing.
-Strange
-He’s not at all like one of the traditional spiritual leaders.
The traditional spiritual leaders were high style.
The lesser spiritual leaders would be put together.
-They were concerned with how they looked.
-They were after honor.
But - John the Baptist was not in Jerusalem and in the synagogues teaching.
He was out doors.
Telling people that God’s Kingdom was near.
The Kingdom of God was close by.
Even though John was odd, there was just something special about him.
What the people can’t put their finger on is this.
The Spirit of God is on Him...
Have you ever been with a person who is full of God’s Spirit?
There was a guy that I knew that walked so closely with God that when I was around Him I would feel convicted.
No joke.
John brought a message from God.
-This message was meant to prepared the people for Jesus.
To get their heart and life ready to meet the King.
Transition - What was John’s message?
-It was a message that applies to you 200 years later.
I. Repent, because God is with you.
-The message John gives is this, Repent God is with you.
“The Kingdom of God is at hand.”
The Messiah is here.
Prepare yourself to meet the King.
vs, 23 In the book of John, John the Baptist message is described this way
Read verse 23
Make straight the way of the Lord sounds like coded language to us today.
Let’s unpack it.
If you have advanced notice that Caesar the great Roman King will be making a visit, you don’t just power wash the walls of the city and plant some shrubbery.
-You want Caesar to be impressed with your city.
You certainly want Him to not be distracted by how difficult it is to get to you.
You also want to honor Him.
-So, you work on the roads that need attention.
Because of who it is that is coming to visit you, you do heavy expensive work.
You take out curves and straighten them.
You take dirt from the peek of a steep incline and you fill in the valley.
You smooth and flatten the road for the Great King.
-Let’s be honest this straightening the roads is difficult and expensive work.
Out on number 1 with massive machinery it’s going to take years.
Illustration - Each year in Augusta in February and March there is a major clean up.
Flowers are planted all around the city.
Plans for traffic to be rerouted are made.
Many home owners deep clean the inside and outside of their home & may even buy new furniture.
Why?
The Augusta National is about to happen...
They are preparing for the players, media, and guests.
-If you have lived in Augusta you have witnessed over the decades the roadways change to the attenders of the Augusta National.
How does straitening roads have anything to do with my spiritual life & repenting?
-There are roads to your heart and life.
-God travels these roads to do a miracle work in your life.
-Our sin makes these roads difficult to travel on.
-We have blocked God from some of the entrances into our heart.
My friend
-You have some roads in your life that are crooked.
-There are some roads that you have set up barriers or even built walls into your life to keep Messiah Jesus from penetrating.
How does John the Baptist tell us to deal with our sin?
Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””
Matthew 4:17 Uses the same language.
But this time it was Jesus saying these same words.
“Repent, for God’s Spiritual Kingdom is upon you.”
While the Jews looked for a physical Kingdom to come and save them for the Romans - God is focusing on His spiritual Kingdom.
The King of the Spiritual Kingdom has arrived.
Hearts and lives must be prepared.
The physical kingdom of God will come.
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